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March 10, 2011

Follow Through.

Bertrand shows-off his new haircut!

Bertrand had another ophthalmology follow-up appointment today. His eye infection is finally cleared-up! Both eyes look great, with the small exception of the scar on the cornea, occluding part of his pupil, left from the infection. We hope that the scar fades in the next 6 months. Bertrand will follow-up with the ophthalmologist in September, and we'll discuss options for remedying the corneal scarring then, if the situation merits it.

His doctor was exceedingly complimentary about how well Bertrand's eye actually looked. Apparently, he had expected a worse result? I always feel confused and uncomfortable when doctors, or people in general for that matter, compliment us on doing what we're supposed to do for our child. Did he really expect me to NOT put the eye drops in his eye?! Even if it was a fight every single time, every 2 hours, for about 3 weeks?

Bertrand is MY SON. I'd do anything for him, even if it is hard on the both of us. From wrestling antibiotic drops into his eyes, to driving him somewhere (school, doctors' appointments, or therapies) every single day of the week, to flying him across the globe for experimental procedures, to holding him down while someone injects a toxin into his muscle to treat spasticity, IF it is in Bertrand's best long-term interest.

Things that have long been in Bertrand's best interest are weight loss and weight bearing. Sure, plenty of things (steroids, broken bones, travel, etc.) got in the way, but the time for excuses has run out. There will always be excuses. We need to JUST DO IT. Visitors to the blog will see little boxes on the righthand side entitled "Weight Challenge" and "Stander Challenge". Weight will be logged on Mondays, and stander time will be logged daily.

3 comments
:

Good for Bertrand! I hope the scar fades of itself so he won't have to go through another procedure, though by this time he's probably more insouciant about such things than I would be. (As for the doctor complimenting you - I have some friends who do special ed/EI and do they ever have stories about what a lot of parents consider to be "doing enough" for their kids).

I remember having an eye infection and needing to put in drops that made my mouth taste like poison. I wanted the infection to clear, but every time I put the drops in, I thought: "Geez, you *really* have to want it, and understand why you're doing it. I bet half the people who are prescribed these drops stop using them after the first shot".

The reality is that compliance is very tricky, and you would be amazed at the number of people who aren't compliant with treatments or medications. So yes, you are absolutely a rock star mom. :)

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